The goal of inquiry oriented, collaborative learning is for the classroom to become more student centered. The instructor takes on a role of a "coach" rather than the source of facts and the disseminator of information and answers. A science course should involve plenty of hands-on laboratory experiences, so that students have ample time and opportunity to explore the concepts and ideas which they are supposed to learn.

To promote student-student, peer group interaction all laboratories should be done in groups so that collaborative learning is facilitated. The instructor should circulate around the room, engaging the groups with questions (not answers) which guide students to explore their laboratory phenomena to experiences concerning the key concept for the day. Students should do as much of the talking as possible. Expressing themselves both in writing and verbally helps them improve their understanding of the phenomena.

Whiteboarding is a useful technique to use in laboratory classes. A whiteboard is simply a piece of board with a surface on which an erasable colored marking pen can be used to write a brief outline of notes and to sketch graphs of experimental results. Whiteboards can be purchased at local hardware stores, and cut into sizes ranging from 1.5 x 1.5 m to 0.5 x 1.0 m. We have used 1.0 x 1.0 m whiteboards successfully in our Physical Science course at ASU. A handle cut from the top of the board using a jig saw is a useful touch, as the handle makes whiteboarding more manageable.

After completing an experiment, a group of students prepares a brief outline of their experimental results. Each group takes responsibility for a part of the classroom presentation, which usually takes 5-10 minutes including questions.

Whiteboards should be prepared and presented at the end of the lab in which the experiment was performed. This way the results are fresh in students' minds. Also the preparation of the whiteboard, and the delivery of the presentation forces students to think about their experimental results before leaving class that day, and provides the instructor an opportunity to emphasize key concepts in the lab, and address any misconceptions.

A skilled instructor who can facilitate an informal, comfortable atmosphere, yet achieve a productive learning session involving discussion of all students in the class is important in a whiteboarding session. Sufficient time should be allowed for the groups to present at the end of the lab. To save time, all groups can prepare white boards, but the instructor need not call on every group each time.